I’m tired of landscape architects, designers, nurserymen and “flower gardeners” rolling their eyes whenever the topic of edible landscaping comes up. Many of these people dismiss it as the latest trendy fad; an insignificant form of gardening practiced by neophytes or old hippies; a style of garden that lacks true form, structure, aesthetics or meaning; and one that really isn’t worth considering except to chuckle. Professionals trained in design, particularly, seem to believe that building a garden incorporating edible plants as integral devices for giving meaning, structure and use to a garden design, is less noble and worthy than designing a garden of architectural devices: hardscape elements, built structures, symmetry, axiality, and plant materials that serve form – usually formal
For some time, I’ve been asking myself the same question over and over: why must I, a Providence tax- paying property owner, squat on private land abutting my residence, erect fencing and install curb appeal plantings (at my own expense) to solve chronic illegal dumping? The answer: because a corporate property owner refuses to monitor and care for their property. And city regulatory departments pay lip service to neighborhood resident concerns, dole out inconsistent zoning and code enforcement and avoid real solutions to such pressing issues.

In normal times — pre-covid/pre-climate change — long time Providence residents such as myself knew the deal and overlooked such neighborhood inequities. After all, we love …